As the pictures and newspaper clippings below attest, the use of ingrain carpets as blankets or ponchos was fairly common.
However we know that there are not enough original pieces still in serviceable condition to accurately depict this
practice, therefore we have recently started a limited production run of a few of our patterns documented as being
produced between 1840 – 1860. This is a sample of the documentation we feel is relevant concerning this practice.
If you're interested in reading more, we found many more pertinent quotes and documents which we've compiled and you may read more by clicking here.

From the Burlington Free Press
February 28, 1862

“Their appearance was grotesques in the extreme. Without uniformity in dress, few of them wore anything that could be called a uniform, unless it was a white or striped blanket, worn in the Indian fashion enveloping the whole person. Large numbers of them, instead of blankets, wore large pieces of carpeting in the form of a blanket. These I learned were the soldiers who [retreated] from Fort Henry in extreme haste and left their coats behind. Such was the sympathy of the rebel leaders in this region on account of their coatless condition, that, having previously given all their blankets, they tore up their carpets and cut them into blankets for their soldiers. Such unselfish devotion to their cause challenges our admiration, however much we may think the carpets ought to be put down.”

We found the similarities between the patterns on these two prisoner's blankets and two of our carpet patterns very striking.

Scan of the original 1862 Article.

From the Memphis Daily Appeal
December 30, 1863

Ladies in the vicinity of Atlanta desiring to contribute for the benefit of the soldiers of Bragg’s army, under the recent appeal of Major B. F. Jones, Quartermaster, LaGarange, Ga., will please call upon us for lining and information on the subject.

HARRIS, JONES & CO.,
Commission Merchants
Marietta street Atlanta, Ga

Savannah [GA] Republican, September 3, 1862, p. 2, c. 2"Blankets for the Rebels."—Under this head, the New York Tribune, of the 12 th inst., editorially says:

A gentleman who has recently arrived from Mobile states that there is not a single carpet to be found in any house in that city, every one having been given up last winter to be used as blankets by the army. The rebels began it, and the Unionists—of whom our informant insists here still remain a considerable number—followed suit, because they feared their omission to do so would lead to their denunciation as Northern sympathizers and traitors. The South is now destitute of blankets, and of any substitute.